Indiana Gives Knight No. 500, But He`s Unimpressed

January 15, 1989|By Robert Markus, Chicago Tribune.

BLOOMINGTON, IND. — Bob Knight`s 500th coaching victory was a lot like most of the other 499. Not up to his standards.

It came harder than most thought it would, this 92-76 victory over a Northwestern team that scrapped back from a 13-point deficit to seize a brief second-half lead that had the Wildcats thinking the improbable.

Then a 14-0 Hoosier run, sparked by the passionate play of freshman Jamal Meeks, restored order, if not Knight`s good humor.

``We had only two guys that played,`` insisted Knight afterwards. ``Meeks and (Mark) Robinson. (Eric) Anderson played as poorly as I`ve ever seen him play and (Todd) Jadlow the same way.``

That could have come as news to Anderson, who had 13 of his 18 points in the second half after Northwestern had clawed its way to a 47-46 lead.

It certainly couldn`t have surprised Jadlow, who was loudly accosted by the outraged coach on one visit to the bench.

Presumably, Knight saw no merit in the play of sophomore guard Jay Edwards, who contributed 22 points, including a pair of three-point baskets in the killer rally, nor in that of Joe Hillman, who consistently wrenched key rebounds out of the hands of Wildcat defenders.

Even his praise of the ebullient Meeks was a bit muted, though Knight found it difficult to restrain his enthusiasm for the freshman from Freeport, Ill.

``See, Meeks got us going badly to begin with,`` said Knight, ``with two turnovers, but the little S.O.B. bounces back like a rubber ball, and he came back and really helped us.``

After Bryan Ross` two free throws gave Northwestern its only lead of the game with 17:32 to play, Indiana worked the ball into Meeks, who hit a layup to send the Hoosiers ahead.

Edwards came down to hit a three-pointer that brought the crowd to a boil, and then Meeks, who finished with a career-high 13 points, made the play of the game. He stripped Rob Ross at halfcourt, dribbled in and dunked the ball.

``That was my first dunk at the college level,`` said the 6-foot Meeks.

``I`d been itching for it all year.``

The Wildcats did not cave in completely after that. But they never got closer than nine points again.

``The steal and dunk was not the final nail in our coffin,`` assessed Northwestern`s Walker Lambiotte.

Lambiotte probably hammered that home himself when he was called for a charge on a drive that could have cut the deficit to seven points with 2:13 to play. Eleven seconds later he became the third Wildcat to foul out.

Lambiotte had 16 points and Brian Schwabe 17 for Northwestern, and both earned a salute from Knight. ``The thing I really liked best about this game was Schwabe,`` Knight said. ``If only every kid played like he does.

Lambiotte,`` he continued, ``is a really good basketball player. He has a feel for the game.``

Lambiotte had a good feel for this game even after Indiana jumped out to an 8-0 lead in just under two minutes.

``I felt for sure we were in the game at the end of the first half,``

Lambiotte said. ``We didn`t need to give them those first eight, but we had played with them for the last 19 minutes.``

Knight called that 8-0 start ``iron pyrite for Indiana. Look that one up in the dictionary. It was bull . . . That`s not what the dictionary says, but that`s what it was.``

In his inimitable way, Knight was saying that the 8-0 lead was fool`s gold. By halftime the Wildcats, no fooling, had reduced the deficit to 43-37 and might have been closer had they not turned the ball over on their final two possessions of the half.